Episode #418: The Photography is Total Bullshit Episode featuring Paul F. Tompkins
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Paul F. Tompkins (The Pod F. Tomkast) joins The Long Shot picture-takers to discuss composite headshots, yearbook photos, awkward goodbyes, and boring fireworks displays.
Comments (7)
Ok, what’s going on…this is the 3rd time Sean has parting-shotted the Fonz story…and all of you people are playing along like it’s the first time you’ve heard this. I don’t like it! I don’t like it one bit! What’s the dilly yo?
I have a few theories…1. A few weeks back Sean hit his head. He seems fine most of the time, but every once in a while he recounts a fictitious story of meeting Henry Winkler in an elevator. The gang plays along because…dun dun dunnn…one of them is the reason for Sean’s injury. They have made a pact not to ever discuss the events that happened that day and to play along with Sean’s repetitive ramblings as to not stir up suspicion.
2. Calculating the number of listeners has long been a thorn in the side of The Long Shot podcast going back to its inception. Despite tireless efforts of pleading with their public week after week to leave comments on their website and iTunes page, The Long Shooters could not settle on an accurate count. Finally, getting fed up with the previous estimate of being somewhere between 4 and 40,000, the gang began to concoct a master plan known only as ‘Operation Fonz.’ The Long Shootists now knew that “asking kindly” would get them nowhere with an apathetic, lazy American public. So The LoShoPo Crew knew they’d have to do things the hard way. Nothing illicits more of a response from Americans than annoying the hell out of them. Week after week Sean would tell the same story for his parting shot, culminating in 15 straight weeks of regurgitation. By the end of that marathon of monotony they’d have as good an estimate as ever for their demographics based on the number of hateful, outraged comments left on their various social media pages. The only question left to the LSP was “what would the story be about?” They’d sit in silence until each of them raised their head and gave a knowing look to each other. “An American treasure: Arthur Fonzarelli,” they all said in unison.
3. Or they just really REALLY like that story.
Ever see Fringe? Perhaps this isn’t the Long Shot crew we all thought we knew. That’s the only rational explanation for telling the Fonz story 3 times, and everyone “playing along” like they don’t remember the other times.
I’ll bet they’ve been recording these from inside the statue of liberty.
Kevin’s story reminds me of the time I was in an elevator with a shark tank and a motorcycle.
Oh, wait, Sean’s story. Sean.
Is this the third time Sean’s told that Henry Winkler story?
Any chance the nice person that made those “DISAGREE” t-shirts might want to mass-produce (or print-on-demand) more of them for fans?
I’ve been dabbling in photography for about a year now, so it was pretty awesome to hear you tackle it as a topic. (In a technical sense, the term “photography” refers strictly to images taken on film–those taken with a digital camera are digital images. But to save time, digital imaging artists simply refer to themselves as photographers, so the more commonplace terms are digital photography and analogue photography. So there’s a fact that no one here cares about. Maybe I can get booked on the Dork Forest.) Eddie is right that many people view the art as less sacred now that it’s so simple and accessible with digital technology, hence the rise of the “fauxtographer” (usually bored moms who buy an expensive camera and think that’s all they need to start a wedding photography business) but it reminds me of the axiom that came into being when digital filmmaking rose to prominence: “The good news is, anybody can make a movie. The bad news is, anybody can make a movie.” I could go on about this but essentially I echo the point Sean and Paul made–there will always be good and bad photographers. Digital technology just means your shutter-happy uncle will have a lot more pictures to sort through after family get-togethers.
I also really enjoyed Eddie reminiscing about his time in the darkroom with his father. It was a surprisingly sincere moment for the show.